Montevideo volleyball coach Joanna Naumann said her team seems to play much better when they are happy and not worrying about anything.
Well, the Thunder Hawks must be having the time of their lives then.
Montevideo rolled to a West Central South Conference title in Naumann's first year as coach. The Thunder Hawks have won 18 matches in a row and are the top seed in the upcoming Section 6AA-South tournament.
"I knew we had a lot of talent and some very good seniors when I took over," said Naumann, who graduated from Totino-Grace High School and Augustana College. "But I really didn't never thought we would have this good of a season. The girls really play well together and work hard all the time."
Montevideo has won the South Conference title four of the last six seasons, but struggled to a 12-13 mark a season ago, including a fourth-place finish in the conference. Naumann, an elementary physical education instructor, was the assistant coach last year.
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"Our depth has been a big plus for us this year," she said. "We have 12 girls and I'm not afraid to use any of them if I have to."
Naumann also pointed out that while the team has many good players, there are no "superstars" that the team relies heavily on.
"It seems like it's someone different every night for us that steps up," she said.
Montevideo has six returning starters back and that experience showed right from the start when the Thunder Hawks won their first three matches by a sweep.
Taylor Skoglund, a 6-1 junior middle hitter, has 186 kills and Brook Moseng, a 5-8 senior outside hitter, has 175. Senior middle hitter Kat Schwachtgen and junior outside hitter Karie Blommel have 84 and 82, respectively. Dani Jensen, a senior, and Calie Roggatz, a junior, share the setter duties on the 6-2 offense. The Thunder Hawks are one of the top blocking teams in the area with Skoglund leading the way with 52 aces, Schwachtgen with 41 and junior middle hitter Amanda Boike with 22. Kaylee Johnson, a senior defensive specialist, has 35 ace serves.
Montevideo will host unbeaten St. Cloud Cathedral in tonight's inter-conference championship. St. Cloud Cathedral won the West Central North Conference title with a 14-0 record, while Montevideo won the South with an 11-1 mark.
"That's a good match for us to have right before playoffs," said Naumann. "That will give us an idea of what kind of teams we could be facing later on."
Montevideo hosts Ortonville at 7 p.m. next Thursday in the section quarterfinals.
